WILLIAM GOYENS

by Archie P. McDonald, PhD

This
is the story of a free black man who lived and thrived in Nacogdoches during the
days of slavery. William Goyens' saga is documented fully in a Master of Arts
thesis written by Diane Prince at Stephen F. Austin State University nearly thirty
years ago.

Goyens -- sometimes spelled Goings -- was born in Moore County,
North Carolina, in 1794, to a free mulatto father and a white mother. He arrived
in Nacogdoches in 1820
and lived there until his death in 1856. He remained illiterate but became a successful
businessman and respected citizen of the community.

Goyens operated a
blacksmith shop, made and sold wagons, operated a freight line between Nacogdoches
and Natchitoches, Louisiana, and ran an inn, or hotel-boarding house, in his home,
which was located near the Plaza Principal. Goyens married Marey Pate Sibley in
1832. Sibley was white. She had one son by a previous marriage, but no children
were born to her marriage with Goyens.

Despite his community standing,
Goyens was a victim of slavery's harsh realities. Several times whites claimed
that Goyens was a runaway slave and therefore their property. Goyens escaped seizure
by taking such matters to court, where he was represented by such community leaders
as Thomas Jefferson Rusk and Charles Stanfield Taylor, both signers of the Texas
Declaration of Independence.

The best known incident
of this nature involved a man named William English, who had Goyens apprehended
while he was visiting Natchitoches in 1826. Goyens convinced English to allow
him to return to Texas, where once again he
established his free status in court.

Goyens performed good service for
Texas during the Revolution from Mexico. With
Adolphus Sterne and Sam Houston, he helped negotiate a treaty with the Cherokee
to keep them pacified in East Texas
while the Texans fought for their independence to the south and west.

Goyens grew prosperous during the days of the Republic and statehood. He built
a large home and a gristmill west of Nacogdoches.
His death on June 20, 1856, and subsequent burial near the junction of Aylios
and Moral creeks launched a legend and a mystery: what became of Goyens' gold?
Another story of buried treasure--not yet found--was launched.

A dozen
years ago, another familiar story to an organization such as the East Texas Historical
Association occurred in the Association's office. A father and daughter from North
Carolina named Goings came looking for information on a long-lost descendant of
their own ancestor, who turned out to be William Goyens' father. They were white.
Slavery's legacy is long indeed.

All
Things Historical>Jan.
20-26, 2002 Column (Archie P. McDonald is Director of the East Texas Historical
Association and author or editor of over 20 books on Texas)